


Asleep or Dead (Expanded)

by myRandomness_18



Series: Asleep or Dead? [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Apocalypse, Based on a My Chemical Romance Song, Caring siblings, Drug Use, Expanded Drabble, Fluff, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, Klaus has no heartbeat, Overdosing, POV Multiple, Torture, im almost sure of it, quite a bit of angst maybe, sometimes, theres gotta be some fluff in here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2020-12-21 00:04:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 9,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21065438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myRandomness_18/pseuds/myRandomness_18
Summary: Various stories of Klaus having no heartbeat. Multiple points of view. Based on my drabble (which is the first work in this series).They don't have any particular order, I'm just writing ideas as they come.





	1. Dave

**Author's Note:**

> So apparently people really liked the drabble type thing that I posted and wanted me to expand upon the idea. Namely @MildeAmasoj and @TwistedIllusions
> 
> Special thanks to @TwistedIllusions for the ideas for this fic. If you hadn't suggested them, then this expanded fic would not exist!
> 
> (Tags and characters will be added as I post chapters). 
> 
> Enjoy!

Dave had only known Klaus for just over a month, but already he felt more strongly for the man than he ever had for anyone else.

He supposed it was wrong to feel this way about another man, but he didn’t care. Sometimes Klaus was the only thing that kept him sane. How the man managed to crack jokes in the middle of a bloody war Dave had no clue. But he was grateful.

Of course, there was a downside. As much as Dave was glad to have Klaus by his side, he wished that the man was as far away as he could possibly be from Vietnam. Dave constantly worried that something would happen. Before he met Klaus he figured it wouldn’t be so bad, it's not like he had anyone waiting for him back home, so what would it matter if he died?

Now though, he had Klaus. Klaus who was also fighting in this goddamned war. If anything happened to Klaus… Dave wasn’t sure what he’d do, he only knew that that could not happen.

So one day when they were fighting in the front lines, Dave and Klaus stayed beside one another. Suddenly there was an explosion from somewhere off to their right. The blast was big enough that it knocked them off their feet, but they were far enough away that they avoided any serious damage. Or so Dave thought.

A couple seconds after the blast Dave sat up, trying to focus through the spots dancing in front of his eyes and the ringing in his ears. He quickly turned to say something to Klaus, but the words died in his throat.

The other man was laying on the ground unmoving, blood running from a gash on his forehead.

Dave lunged towards Klaus, collapsing once again to the ground. He held two fingers up to Klaus’ neck, feeling for a pulse. He found none.

His whole world stopped. The sounds of war muted to the background, everything in slow motion except for his ragged breaths as he held his fingers against Klaus’ neck, hoping that he had just not felt it earlier. That it was too faint for him to notice at first, but it was still there.

Dave didn’t know how long he stayed like that, but he could still feel no pulse. Tears began to run from his eyes, cutting through the dirt and grime that covered his face. They fell slowly, until he couldn’t hold them back anymore, and they came flooding out. Soon his face was practically clean, save for the sorrow and heartache that now covered it instead.

He stayed like that, sobbing and keening, until he felt someone place a hand overtop of his. Overtop of the hand that was firmly placed against Klaus’ neck. He couldn’t bring himself to glance up to whoever it was. It wasn’t until a few moments later that he registered someone gently saying his name. They repeated it a few more times before he finally looked up.

Up into bright green eyes.

Dave’s tears immediately ceased as he stared into the eyes of the man he loved. Into the most beautiful eyes in the universe. Into the eyes that he thought he would never see again, because he thought the man they belonged to had… he couldn’t even think about it. He stared into the eyes of the man who still had no pulse.

“Klaus…” His voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper, but that didn’t matter, for Klaus heard him.

“Yeah,” he replied, “it’s me.”

Dave stared for a few more seconds, then he suddenly grabbed Klaus’ face and pulled him into a bruising kiss.

“Oh my god, Klaus! You’re okay! You’re… you’re alive!” Dave could not mask the relief in his voice, not that he was even trying to.

“Of course I’m alive! It’s gonna take more than a tiny explosion to take me out.” Klaus stated with a grin.

Dave didn’t smile back, instead his brow furrowed into a frown. “But I couldn’t find your pulse…” He trailed his hand down Klaus face to place it back against his neck. “Klaus, you have no heartbeat!” He gasped.

“Right, that.” Klaus answered, looking slightly awkward and nervous. “You see, I’ve never had a heartbeat. I was born without one. The doctors almost pronounced me dead, stillborn, until I started crying.”

“But how?” Dave asked. “That’s not possible.”

“There are a lot of things about my life that are impossible.” Was all the reply Klaus gave.

“Well, how ‘bout you tell me all about it later, once we get out of this hell-hole and back to base.” Dave asked, a sheepish grin slowly spreading across his face. 

Klaus gave him a brilliant smile. “I’d like that.”


	2. Klaus's Birth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day Klaus was born.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter. I don't really like how it turned out, but I can't think of any ways to improve it. Also I realize how short these are, hopefully the next one's will be longer, but no guarantees. These are supposed to be short, but I'm hoping I can make them a bit longer.
> 
> As always, Enjoy!

On October 1st, 1989, a woman was lying on the bed of a grubby motel room. She had been living there for a few weeks now. She had just gotten home from a long day of being out and about, and she was tired.

Suddenly a sharp pain erupted in her stomach. She cried out and sat up, curling in on herself and clutching her stomach.

Before she knew what was happening, her stomach had swelled until it looked as if she was pregnant.

There was a knock at the door, accompanied by a worried voice. The woman could not do anything but scream out in agony as the pain in her stomach increased. The door was flung open, and a kind-faced man ran in. 

He took one look at the screaming woman who was curled into herself, and called an ambulance. After he had done that, he sat on the bed next to her, muttering soothing words that the woman barely registered.

After a few minutes of waiting and more soothing words, an ambulance arrived to take the woman to the hospital. She couldn’t focus enough to register what was happening around her. She was being pushed through brightly lit hallways, through door, past many rooms, until she finally came to a stop inside one of them. It was empty occupants, save for the woman and the doctor and nurses who had been pushing her.

Her focus didn’t return, she was vaguely aware of someone yelling at her to Push! Then after agonizing minutes, the announcement of a ‘bouncing baby boy’. Except he wasn’t bouncing. He was completely still; even his heart.

“I’m sorry,” a doctor told her, “It’s a stillbirth.”

The room was filled with wails. The wails of a new born child.

The doctor nearly dropped the infant.

The child was quickly taken by nurses who would clean him and check his vitals. They found no heartbeat, no matter how many times they checked. Technically the child was dead, but he was sobbing and squirming enough that they knew this couldn’t be true.

When the boy was returned to his mother, she looked at him with fear and confusion in her eyes. She didn’t want him. She couldn’t raise a child. She didn’t even own a house! She could barely afford to take care of herself, let alone another human being!

She began hyperventilating, so the doctors took the infant away.

For the next few days the doctors kept trying to convince the woman to at least see her child, but she would have nothing to do with him. She stayed in the hospital so the doctors could run some tests, and she declined all interviews. Word had spread about the impossible birth of 43 children on the same day, by mothers who had not been pregnant prior to the time of birth.

On the fifth day a man came to visit her. He looked familiar, as if she had seen his picture somewhere. He introduced himself as Sir Reginald Hargreeves. The name rang a faint bell in the back of her mind.

He offered her more money than she had ever seen in her life, if only she would let him take her child.

She was all too willing, she hadn’t been planning to keep the infant anyways, and now she was being paid generously for it.

Now she could get her life together. She could buy a real house, she wouldn’t have to decide between new clothes or food. She would have a good life.

And she did. But sometimes, late at night, she would remember the tiny infant that she had birthed. The infant with no heartbeat.


	3. Kid Allison POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allison finds Klaus napping on the couch. At least, she hopes he's napping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I am updating this so much! I've just been posting chapters as I write them, but I think I'll make a more regular updating schedule, so it's not three in 2 days, then maybe none for a month. I'll update 1-2 times a week, probably on Sundays and Thursdays? 
> 
> So this chapter ended up being the shortest one so far, but I'll try and make longer ones (unless you guys like the short ones?)
> 
> I can not thank you all enough for the amazing response I have gotten for this!! You're all so absolutely amazing!!!
> 
> As always, Enjoy!

Allison had just finished individual training with her father, Reginald Hargreeves, and she just wanted to lay back on the couch and watch a romcom. When she entered the living room, however, the couch was already occupied.

Klaus was laying facing the back of the couch, his knees sandwiched between his chest and the back cushions. He looked exhausted after getting back from his own individual training earlier that morning so Allison was not surprised he had fallen asleep. She wondered, not for the first time, what he had to do in individual training.

She decided that she would turn the volume of the TV down so as not to wake him. She put in the disc and sat in a large armchair. After a few minutes she glanced back to Klaus, who had not moved since she entered the room. Allison stared a little longer. It didn’t look as though he was moving at all. Even to breath.

Panic coursed through Allison as she got out of the armchair and walked over to Klaus. Was he breathing? She really couldn’t tell. Instinctively she reached out a hand to grab his wrist. She waited, but could feel no pulse.

Of course he has no pulse, she thought to herself as she realized what she was doing. He never has a pulse. 

This left Allison with only one option; try to wake him. She grabbed his shoulders and at first she gently shook them, but when that didn’t work, she shook them more forcefully.

Klaus bolted upright, almost falling off the couch before Allison steadied him.

“All’son?” He questioned, his voice slurred with sleepiness.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry Klaus,” she told him, relief colouring her tone.

“What’s wrong?” He was more awake now, trained to be constantly vigilant.

“Nothing. I just… I,” she began stammering.

“Allison,” Klaus reached out a hand and placed it on her arm, “you can tell me.”

“I know, I just panicked. Klaus… I thought you weren’t breathing. Then I tried to check your pulse, but of course you don’t even have one, so I had to try to wake you up, just to make sure…”

Allison could feel tears brimming in her eyes. As annoying as Klaus could be sometimes, he was her brother and she loved him. He was probably the sweetest Hargreeves child, and sometimes she thought that he was the only reason any of them still had any sense of humour or joy.

She felt bony arms wrap around her, and she immediately leaned closer, pressing herself into Klaus’ embrace. The tears never left her eyes, but she knew that they were close to falling.

“I’m okay, Allison,” Klaus reassured her.

After a few minutes the siblings separated. Klaus turned to look at the TV, where the movie Allison had put in was still playing quietly.

“Oooh, I love romcoms!” Klaus squealed with joy.

Allison giggled. “I’ll restart it, we can watch it together.”

Yes, Allison was definitely grateful that Klaus was here; that he was okay.


	4. Overdose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus overdoses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is Wednesday my dudes, which means another chapter!!   
Obviously this one has drug use and overdose, so if this is triggering in any way, please skip it! The next chapter will be up by Sunday.  
Please note: I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, buy these aren't in any particular order. They can be read any way, and you don't have to have read any to understand one.
> 
> With that being said, Enjoy!

Klaus was twenty three. He had left the academy at seventeen. With nowhere to go, he lived on the streets, occasionally staying at the house of his current fling. None of those relationships lasted very long.

He had just gotten a fresh supply of pills from his dealer and was wandering the dark streets, lit only by the few streetlights and occasionally the windows of small shops or diners that hadn't closed yet. 

He found a short alley and ducked into it. He opened the plastic baggie with trembling hands, almost spilling the pills all over the grimy ground.

There were ghosts all around him, screaming and wailing, the high keening noises making Klaus flinch. He hadn't taken anything in nearly two days, and the ghosts were beginning to become too much for him to handle. He wondered vaguely where Ben had gone off to. He had left after Klaus obtained this new batch of pills, saying that he wasn’t going to stick around and watch as Klaus destroyed himself.

He popped his handful of pills into his mouth and swallowed.

He wasn’t really sure what his dealer had given him; he was so desperate for anything to mute the ghosts that were constantly plaguing him that he hadn’t bothered to ask. At this point he didn’t really care, so long as it made the ghosts disappear.

A few minutes later he felt the effects of the pills start to kick in. He took a step towards the entrance of the alleyway and a wave of dizziness washed over him. He grabbed the wall, then leaned on it for support. He took a deep breath then tried again. He managed to take four steps before he collapsed to the ground, panting on his hands and knees. Waves of nausea rolled over him, and he slowly lowered himself until he was laying in the fetal position on the ground. He didn’t notice or care how filthy it was.

He stayed there for a few more minutes before he finally tried to get up. He only managed to increase his nausea. He began to crawl to the mouth of the alley, hoping that someone would be out even at this late hour.

He made it out of the alley and onto the sidewalk before passing out.

\----

A petite lady with dark brown hair and a big coat was walking down the street. She had just finished working the late shift at a small diner just up the street, and she was in a hurry to make it home.

Therefore she was not really paying attention to her surroundings, assuming she wouldn’t encounter anyone at this late hour. She abruptly came to a stop, nearly tripping over a deathly skinny and dirty man lying in the middle of the sidewalk.

For a moment she was worried he would get up and ask her for money, but he didn’t move as she began to inch her way past him. That was when she took a closer look at him and noticed that he wasn’t breathing.

She immediately kneeled on the ground beside him, pulling her phone out of her small purse. She dialled 911 as she felt for the man’s pulse.

“911, what’s your emergency?” A woman’s voice asked over the phone.

“Th-there’s a man here, I just found him lying here, I don’t know who he is. He’s not breathing and I can’t find a pulse!” The petite lady was starting to hyperventilate, she didn’t know what to do, she only hoped that an ambulance would arrive soon.

“Can you tell me where you are?” The 911 operator asked.

The lady looked up at the building they were in front of. “S-six two seven Danforth Avenue,” she stuttered out.

“An ambulance is on its way.”

“Okay.” Then she hung up, glancing down at the man one last time before quickly walking away. She had to work the morning shift too.

\----

It took five minutes before an ambulance arrived, finding the man lying on the sidewalk where the lady had left him.

They lifted him onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. They began to drive to the hospital, one of the EMTs grabbing the defibrillator to try and restart the patient’s heart.

They tried multiple times before giving up. 

Just as they pulled up to the hospital, the man on the stretcher sat up, gasping.

The EMTs were shocked, to say the least.

“Wow,” the man said as he turned so his legs were dangling off the stretcher, “that was definitely some trip.”

The ambulance doors were opened and the man hopped out, the EMTs too shocked to object.


	5. Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children go on a mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!!  
Another chapter posted on time! This one is longer than the other ones. This is about the length I want to try and make them all, but we'll see what happens.  
*In this chapter all the children are referred to by number instead of name. This is because I imagined that at this point in their lives they weren't given names yet (since it's before Five left).  
Thank you to everyone who has read, Kudos, commented, bookmarked, or subscribed. You guys are so amazing and it makes me so happy that I've received such a wonderful response to this fic. Everytime I get a notification it makes me so happy and puts me in such a great mood!!  
Anyway, sorry for rambling.
> 
> As always,  
Enjoy!!

The children of the Umbrella Academy had been going on mission for about three years already. Their father sent them, and they didn’t object. Usually the missions went according to plan, but sometimes whoever they were fighting would do something unexpected.

For example when the extraordinary siblings were stopping a bank robbery (the sixth one they had ever been sent to stop since they started missions) they weren’t expecting much. There were only eight men there, really there was no need for the siblings to have gone other than it had been over a month since their last mission, and Reginald couldn’t go that long without some sort of major publicity stunt.

Just after they arrived and started creating chaos and ruining any plans the thugs had of robbing the bank, reinforcements arrived. About thirty more people came rushing into the bank. They must have been there the whole time since the police were outside blocking anyone from entering. Apparently they had planned for the Umbrella Academy kids to show up to stop them, despite this not being a mission they would normally be sent on.

The reinforcements came in, guns blazing. Everyone ducked, Five zapping around to gather his siblings one by one and move them to safety. Once all six of them were huddled behind a counter, they began to plan.

“We need some way to distract them, someone to draw their fire while the rest of us sneak around to take them out,” One took charge, always the leader.

“I’ll do it,” Five told them, “I’m the only one who stands a chance of not getting shot.”

The others nodded their acknowledgement.

“Three, try and rumour as many of them as you can, make them take out their allies,” Luther continued.

Number three nodded and gave a shaky smile.

“The rest of you,” One turned to look at his remaining siblings, “take out as many as you can.”

With that Five popped out of existence, and the rest of them snuck out from behind the counter. Most of the criminals were trying to shoot Five, but some of them were smarter, realizing that they wouldn’t be able to, and that it was probably a distraction. Three quickly took care of them, rumouring them to shoot or knock out their allies. One was fighting off three men, their guns flung out of reach. Two was near the edge of the room but still very much in the fight. There were two men and a woman advancing towards him as he threw a knife into the back of a man who had grabbed onto Five’s arm. He quickly turned, flinging three knives, each hitting their target simultaneously. Six was standing off to the side, trying to help but not wanting to release his Horror. He fought off a couple thugs, then moved on to a couple more.

Four wanted to help his siblings. He had fought off a few thugs that hadn’t seen him coming. They were more focused on the rest of his siblings, so it was easy to come up behind them and knock them out with a swift blow from paperweight he had found while they were behind the counter.

This strategy was working quite well for Four, until he hit one man in the back of the head and instead of crumpling to the ground as Four had intended, he turned around, glaring down at the small frame of Number Four. Before he knew what had happened Four felt something hard smash into the side of his skull, then everything around him faded out of existence.

\----

Number One knocked out the last person who has attempted to rob the bank, or take out the Umbrella Academy, or whatever they were here for, then he glanced around as all his siblings walked over to him, in the centre of the room.

At least, four of his siblings walked towards him.

“Where’s Four?” He asked, slightly annoyed. Their brother had probably run away to hide, not wanting to take part in the fighting.

The rest of his siblings glanced around, their expressions ranging from annoyed and exasperated to mildly concerned.

It only took about a minute before Number Six spotted him. “He’s over here,” he called, his siblings slowly making their way over to him.

They stood in a haphazard semicircle around where Four lay, blood running down the side of his head and onto the floor. By this point they were more worried. Six crouched down beside him.

"Hey, Four," he said softly. Then, when he received no response, a little more forcefully. "Four, the fight’s over, you gotta get up. Dad'll be waiting for us, and you don't want him to be mad."

He still received no response. The rest of the siblings crouched or kneeled beside their brothers, now filled with worry. It was Five who reached out to grab Four’s wrist, he winced slightly when he felt no pulse, but he did not let go.

“He’s probably fine,” Number One spoke up, “he doesn’t ever have a heartbeat, he obviously just got knocked out during the fight, he’ll wake up soon. He’s fine.”

Nobody responded. They all knew this was the most likely explanation, but what if it was wrong?

“W-we should get him to Mom,” Two managed, standing up. He began to gather Number Four to him when One stepped forwards and picked up the small boy instead. They left the bank and walked straight to the car that was waiting for them, ignoring the people gathered around the building, waiting to ask questions to put all over the news.

Reginald was not happy that his children did not give him the publicity he wanted, but he let it slide when he glanced at their faces, all casting worried looks towards Number Four, who was clutched to One’s chest.

\----

As soon as the car stopped outside of the Academy the children poured out, practically running towards the mansion. As soon as they entered through the front door Grace greeted them, Seven standing by her side.

“Hello children, you’re back earlier than I expected. Unfortunately dinner won’t be ready for another hour,” she told them, ever present smile plastered across her face. Until her gaze landed on Number Four. 

“Oh dear, why don’t we take him to the infirmary. I’ll take care of him from there.” She turned on her heel and began walking, Number One not far behind her. The rest of the Umbrella Academy hesitated for a moment before quickly following after.

They waited for nearly ten minutes before their brother finally opened his eyes.

“Four, you’re finally awake!” Squealed Three, who was the first one the notice when the boy opened his eyes.

Four winced. “Yeah, I guess so.” He looked around, only then realizing he was in the infirmary.

“What happened?” Seven practically whispered, her voice soft and hesitant.

Number Four smiled at her. “Oh you know, I was just whacking some baddies, knocking them out, when this one big guy -and I mean huge- didn't go down. I think he was kinda pissed about being hit in the back of the head with a paperweight. Anyway, he had some sort of hard something in his hand that he whacked me with, so I guess that makes us even, except that I actually did go down.”

The rest of the Academy just stared at him for a few moments, before smiles broke out across their faces. “Of course,” bagan Two, “only you, Four. Only you.”


	6. Rehab

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus in rehab doing group therapy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm... Hello!!  
I am so so so sorry that this is late!! But it's here now...!!!  
I really am sorry but I just finished this chapter so I could post it now. If you find any mistakes please let me know so I can fix them!  
Enjoy!!

Klaus didn’t want to go to group therapy. Normally he would be fine, he didn’t particularly enjoy it, but it wasn’t that bad. Today, however, he was feeling worse than usual. He had been in rehab for about a week (this time) and he was itching to get his hands on something, anything, to take the edge off. And to get rid of the ghosts. Although there weren’t that many in the rehabilitation centre klaus was currently inhabiting.

Despite the slight nausea Klaus was feeling, he went to group therapy. It looked as though a few of the other patents were feeling the same as Klaus.

The group counsellor was sitting in one of the chairs in a circle, she had dark blond hair and was wearing a dark green dress shirt with jeans. As more people filed in, they all found a chair and sat. Klaus was three seats away from the counsellor, between a skeletal woman with wispy blond hair, and a thin man with the beginnings of a beard growing on his face.

“Hello everyone,” the counsellor began, a bright smile gleaming on her face. “My name is Sam, I’m your counsellor for today. Why don’t we start by going around the circle and saying your name and age?”

Klaus waited as everyone stated their name and age, only half paying attention. When it was his turn he waved his ‘Hello’ hand and glanced around the circle, a smirk plastered across his face. “Hello, I’m Klaus Hargreeves and I am twenty-four years and eight months old.” A few murmurs went around the circle, but they ceased quickly when the counsellor asked for the next person, the blond skeleton, to answer.

After everyone in the circle had given their response, the counsellor continued. “Now we’re going to do a small exercise to help us relax and calm ourselves. I would like everyone to take their middle and index finger and place them on their neck. Try and find your pulse point. When you do, close your eyes and even your breathing. Count your breaths; in two, out two, in two, out two.”

Klaus gave a small snort. The counsellor glanced at him. “Klaus, could you please try and do the exercise?” She asked kindly.

“Yeah,” Klaus began, “it’s just, what if you don’t have a pulse?”

The counsellor didn’t even blink. “I know sometimes it feels like our hearts are not beating, it feels like we’re dying, or maybe like we’re already dead, but doing this exercise helps us to realize that we are alive. We are still here. We just need to remember that so we can keep going, keep moving forwards.”

Klaus would have laughed if it weren't for the other patients who looked as if these words had meant so much to them. He wasn’t sure how to explain that he hadn’t meant it metaphorically, rather he was being quite literal. 

When Klaus didn’t respond, the counsellor must have taken pity on him and assumed he was having trouble finding his pulse point. “Here, let me help you,” she offered as she stood up and walked towards him. Klaus made no objections so she gently placed her two fingers to his neck. After a few seconds she moved them, then again. A frown appeared on her face and it grew each time she didn’t find a pulse.

Klaus smirked as the counsellor took a step back, a horrified expression on her face. She quickly schooled her expression back into one of neutrality. “I can’t seem to find your pulse, perhaps we should have a doctor check on you.”

“That’s really not necessary,” Klaus replied simply, “the doctors aren’t gonna find a pulse either. I told you, I don’t have one.”

The counsellor gave him a small, worried smile. “Klaus, everyone has a pulse, but if it's difficult to feel it could mean there is something wrong. I’ll take you to one of the in-residence doctors so they can check.”

Klaus did not object. Instead he silently followed the counsellor as she led him to the small doctor’s room. There was only a doctor there two days of the week. This day happened to be one of them.

The counsellor quickly, and quietly, explained what was wrong, gave Klaus another small smile, then left, probably to continue group therapy.

“So Klaus,” the doctor began, “Sam tells me that neither of you can feel your pulse?”

The statement was worded as a question, so Klaus nodded.

The doctor picked up a stethoscope and stepped towards Klaus. He helped Klaus out of his shirt, then placed the round end onto Klaus’ chest. The metal was freezing.

After a few seconds the doctor frowned, moving the stethoscope a bit to try and find the heartbeat that wasn’t there.

After a few minutes of this, Klaus sighed. “I don’t have a pulse, never have.”

“But that’s not possible. Everybody has a pulse, you can’t live without a pulse.” The doctor stated, unnerved.

“Yeah, well, my birth was impossible, why shouldn’t my life be impossible too?” With that Klaus stood up and walked out of the medical room. He walked down several hallways until he found the room with the bed that he had been sleeping in for the past week. Only one more to go, he thought to himself, then I’m free. I wonder if Jeffy’s still selling by that crappy convenience store...


	7. (After) Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hargreeves siblings finally get to celebrate Halloween. Klaus thinks of a good prank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I'm just gonna start by saying how sorry I am. I am so so so very sorry that it's been so long since I posted anything. I got really busy and didn't have much time to write. I won't be able to post as often anymore, I'm hoping at least once a week, but it might end up being once every two weeks. Sorry about that, but it is what it is.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I think it's the longest one so far.

The Hargreeves had never celebrated Halloween. Reginald thought it was a ridiculous concept and therefore did not allow the children to participate. They weren’t even allowed to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. Despite this, the children all knew about halloween; that you were supposed to dress up, go door to door to get free candy, and that the Umbrella Academy themselves were a popular option for costumes.

The first time they had a chance to, they had a Halloween party. It was a few days after Halloween and Sir Reginald Hargreeves had left on some sort of business. The siblings figured they’d probably never get another chance to dress up and stuff themselves with Halloween candy, so they all found some makeshift costumes, ones that Grace may have helped make, and found some candy in the kitchen, how did that get there, Reginald didn’t allow candy unless it was a special occasion. He most certainly did not leave boxes of it in the house. They figured Grace or Pogo had gotten it for them. They also found some scary movies that appeared out of nowhere, since Reginald only kept informational movies in the academy.

They all piled into the living room. Luther was dressed as an astronaut, although he was holding his helmet under his arm instead of wearing it. Diego dressed as Batman, an all in black vigilante. Allison was Julia Roberts, wearing a long pink dress with a strap over one shoulder. Klaus as a ghost that he had seen last time he was trapped in the mausoleum. This ghost hadn’t screamed or tried to attack him, it just stayed in the corner opposite Klaus. Finally Vanya, who was Jascha Heifetz.

They all moved to take up the furniture, piling onto chairs and couches. Somehow Klaus ended up with the remote, so he chose the first movie. They watched A Nightmare on Elm Street. After that Allison chose a movie, then Luther, Diego, and finally Vanya, who chose The Nightmare Before Christmas. Then they went around again, each sibling choosing a second movie.

During the movies they ate all the candy they could manage until they felt sick.

They watched movies way past their bedtime, but they eventually fell asleep despite the jumpscares. Tiredness won out over fear.

In the morning, Klaus was the first one awake. He yawned then looked around at all his siblings sleeping peacefully in various uncomfortable looking positions, strewn about the furniture in the living room.

During the night someone, Klaus assumed Grace -who else would it have been?- had cleaned up the candy wrappers and shut off the TV.

Klaus stood up from where he had been lying on the couch. All his ghost makeup was smeared across his face and down his arm, which his head had been resting on while he slept. He glanced at the forms of his sleeping siblings again, then an idea formed in his mind. He could prank them. He still had some fake blood leftover from his costume, now he just needed to figure out how to make this look realistic…

After ten minutes, Klaus had a plan. He opened the front door and stuck some lockpicking tools that he had found, they definitely had not been stashed under his bed, in the lock on the door handle. He took the hilt of a knife that he had taken the blade out of a while ago. He hadn't really known why at the time, but it proved to have been a good idea. He laid down on the ground near the open door and placed the knife hilt overtop of the hole he had cut into his shirt.

Then he waited.

Going by the clock on the wall that was just in Klaus’ line of sight, it was eight minutes before he heard footsteps and voices from the living room. His siblings were awake.

He laid as still as he possibly could, waiting for his siblings to exit the living room.

Finally he heard the door to the living room open, multiple pairs of footsteps walking out of the room, then an abrupt halt.

“Kl-Klaus?” He heard a tentative, worried voice whisper. It had been Vanya.

Suddenly there were hands all over him. “Sh-should, should we take th-the kni-knife out?” Diego asked, panic in his voice.

Klaus felt a pang of guilt run through him, perhaps he should get up, tell them it was a prank.

“No,” Luther replied, his voice going from worried, scared, and panicked to taking on the tone of a leader, someone who was in control and knew what they were doing. Or, at least, they were very good at acting as though they knew what they were doing. “We should get Mom, she can take it out.”

“I’ll go get her,” Aillison mumbled, tears in her voice. He heard her soft footsteps begin to retreat to the kitchen, then decided that this had gone far enough.

Klaus opened his eyes and sat upright, flinging his arms out. “Surprise!” He cried. “I’m completely alright! I totally got you guys, you were so worried!” Klaus gave a small laugh, then looked around at the faces of all his siblings, expecting them to laugh or roll their eyes. Instead he saw varying mixtures of relief, anger, and annoyance.

“Klaus!” Diego cried out, “You -you- you can’t do that! You scared us! We thought.. We-we thought that you were…” Diego’s sentence trailed off, and Klaus finally realized that maybe this hadn’t been a great idea after all.

“I- I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you guys would be so upset,” He mumbled quietly, but loud enough that his siblings heard.

“How could you think that we wouldn’t be upset!? Klaus, we thought something terrible had happened, we thought you weren’t going to wake up. We couldn’t even tell if you were still alive because you don’t have a damn pulse!” Allison wailed, a few tears leaking from her eyes.

Klaus studied his siblings faces once again and found that they all had tears in their eyes, some running down their faces.

“I’m sorry, I won’t pull anymore pranks like this. Ever. I promise,” Klaus told them all, his tone serious and sincere.

Suddenly four pairs of arms were wrapped around him and, after a few seconds of shock, he opened his arms and returned the embrace.


	8. The Apocalypse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five in the apocalypse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, hello everyone. I am so so sorry I haven't updated in forever. I feel really bad, but a lot has been going on. Anyway, hopefully I'll be back to updating more regularly.
> 
> If you have any ideas feel free to leave them in the comments.
> 
> As always, enjoy!
> 
> Thank you to Amena3261 for this chapter, it was great suggestion, I hope you like it!

Five was ecstatic. He had defied his father, running out of the house to test the extent of his powers. Time travel. The concept seemed almost impossible, but it was in his grasp, he ran down the street, getting ready to jump further than he ever had before, although he never moved. 

In the blink of an eye, it was no longer the cold end of spring, instead the air was warmer, and the sun brighter. Five laughed, he had never been so thrilled. He barely had time to properly enjoy it until he needed to do it again, jumping further into the future. This time it was winter, the cold biting his exposed legs and face, but he didnt care, couldn’t care. He just smiled wider, he didn’t remember ever having smiled so brilliantly in his life. He kept running, jumping through time and space once again.

This time it was warmer, no longer winter. Five took a few more running steps before abruptly stopping, the smile wiped away from his face, the thrill of time jumping disappearing completely. All around him was chaos. Buildings destroyed, reduced to rubble that littered the streets, if they could even be called that anymore. Some of them were still on fire, ranging from small and barely enough to roast a marshmallow to huge and roaring.

After a few seconds of looking around in shock, Five turned and ran back the way he had come, back to the Academy. At least, he had hoped. Instead there was nothing, where the Academy had once stood, giant and foreboding, was nothing but rubble.

He called for his family. “Vanya! Ben! Dad! Anyone!?” He received no response.

Five tried to jump back. He tried again and again, desperate, but it seemed jumping to the past was harder than to the future, or maybe he had used up his power? Whatever the reason, Five was stuck.

He sunk to the ground in defeat. Nobody was here. He was alone, and stuck in a world on fire. He didn’t know what to do. Something to his right caught his eye. Lying in the rubble was a body. A woman with dark skin and curly hair. He slowly walked over to her, she looked almost… familiar, somehow. He crouched down next to her and grabbed her arm, turning it over so he could get a better look at her wrist. An umbrella was tattooed onto it, the symbol of the Umbrella Academy. Allison.

Five stumbled backwards and tripped, he landed right beside another body. Luther. Diego was next, then Vanya. They were all dead. He didn’t find any sign of Ben, but he did find Klaus. Five thought for a few moments, then walked over to Klaus.

“Hey, Klaus, get up,” he told the man lying in what was left of the building. Klaus didn’t move. “Klaus, come on. Get up! This isn’t time for one of your pranks!”

Still, the man did not get up, he just layed there, glassy eyes staring into the smoke filled sky.

Five became desperate, he grabbed Klaus’ arm and began pulling, trying to hoist the man up to his feet. “Klaus! Get up! Come on!” He yanked harder, and even kicked his brother a few times. He just needed to get up! He wasn’t dead, he couldn’t be, right? He’s probably just unconcious, so Five needs to wake him up.

“KLAUS!!!”

Five’s feet slid out from under him and he came crashing to the ground. He hadn’t realized he was crying until that moment, teas cutting lines through his now dust and dirt covered face. He screamed, his anguish and despair loud for anyone to hear, if there was anyone left. 

\----

Five stared at Klaus, now silent tears streaming down his face. He must have been like that for a while, because it had begun to get darker, and when he finally moved, he was covered in ash that was still falling from the sky, like burning snow.

Five finally stood up, ash flowing off of him. “You’re not supposed to be dead,” he told Klaus. “You never had a heartbeat, I thought… I don’t know, maybe this is stupid, but I thought that meant you wouldn’t die. That if you did die it wouldn’t matter because you were technically dead anyway. I guess I was wrong. But don’t worry, I’ll save you. I’ll save everyone.”

Five gave all his siblings one last look before turning and walking away. He needed to figure out what had happened, then find a way to get back to warn everyone.

To save everyone.


	9. Hazel and Cha Cha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus and his time with Hazel and Cha Cha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Another chapter in less than a week? I know, shocking. I suddenly was really motivated to write so I finished this all at once. I also already finished the next chapter, I'll be posting it on Wednesday. This is not beta'd, so sorry for any mistakes, feel free to point them out so I can go back and fix them. If you have any ideas or suggestions please leave a comment!
> 
> As always, Enjoy!
> 
> ***TRIGGER WARNING***  
There are mentions and descriptions of torture in this chapter. It's not super graphic, but if you're not comfortable please skip this chapter.

Klaus wasn’t sure how long he had been with the crazy masked people who he’d discovered were named Hazel, the man, and Cha Cha, the woman. He assumed days, but he had no real way of knowing, seeing as he’d been locked in a closet for most of the time, and when he wasn’t in the closet, he was being tortured. He still didn’t know which was better, but he was beginning to think he preferred the torture. At least he could see, and there were no flashbacks to being locked up for hours on end in a cold, dark, damp mausoleum, filled with the dead screeching at him, begging for help, trying to grab him with rotting hands…

Yeah, he definitely preferred the torture.

This time it was waterboarding. Hazel walked forwards and held a cloth over his face while Cha Cha dumped water over him. They had done this several times already, and Klaus was finding it harder and harder to catch his breath after each time. They wanted information that he didn’t have, and he didn’t know how he was going to get out of this.

“Klaus,” Ben tried to get the attention of his brother. “Klaus, hey, can you hear me? Look at me, come on, you need to focus.”

Klaus turned his attention to his brother, albeit reluctantly as he could no longer see Hazel and Cha Cha.

“Come on Klaus, take deep breaths, someone will come for you soon, our siblings will find you, they’ll save you.”

Klaus didn’t have the heart or the energy to tell him how unlikely that was. Klaus had given up on the hope that any of his siblings were coming for him, or that they even realized he was missing. They probably just thought he off getting high somewhere. He supposed that was no less than he deserved since that was usually what he was doing, but this time he needed help and no one was going to come for him. He sighed. The world around him had started going dark around the edges and it was becoming harder to focus on anything by the second. He tried to draw in a breath but the air felt heavy and suffocating, as if he were still being waterboarded.

“Hey, Klaus! Klaus, look at me!” Ben’s voice was getting farther and farther away. Klaus tried to look at him, but instead his eyes drifted closed as he fell unconscious.

\----

Hazel and Cha Cha had gone into the bathroom to talk without the crazy man they had kidnapped overhearing them.

“I’m starting to think he actually doesn’t know anything,” Hazel told Cha Cha. “It’s been two days already and he hasn’t said a word.”

“He’s gotta know something, we just have to find a way to make him tell us. Obviously we need to try harder,” Cha Cha replied in a tone filled with annoyance.

“Yeah, maybe, but anything more might kill him,” Hazel sounded vaguely concerned, but Cha Cha shut him down.

“So? Either he tells us what he knows then we kill him, or he’s actually telling the truth and he doesn’t know anything then he dies.”

“Good point.”

With that they walked back out onto the motel room to continue their torture session, only to notice that the man they had tied up in a cahir was passed out, head slumped forwards onto his chest.

Cha Cha walked towards him and slapped him across the face. “Come on, time to wake up.”

He gave no response.

Cha Cha put her hand on his neck but found no pulse.

“Shit, he’s dead.”

“Already? Guess we won’t be getting any information from him.”

“No, but hopefully his brother got our message and will be on his way soon.”

“Yeah, hopefully. What are we gonna do with the body?”

“I don’t know, figure something out,” Cha Cha rolled her eyes and walked away.

Hazel sighed but walked over to Klaus, untying him from the chair.

Suddenly Klaus gasped, making Hazel jump away in shock.

“Holy shit! He’s still alive!”

“What? He didn’t have a pulse, I checked!” Cha Cha ran over and watched as Klaus blinked a few times before giving them a brilliant smile.

“That’s just one of the many tricks up my sleeve. Wanna know another one? Zoya Popova.”


	10. Diego

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego finds Klaus in jail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, on time for once!  
Sadly I don't think I'll be able to get the next chapter up as quickly as this one, it'll probably be one to two weeks since I'll be very busy. If you have any ideas, suggestions, criticisms, or anything else, leave them in the comments!
> 
> As always, enjoy!

Diego had just gotten home after a late night. He had stopped a man who was robbing a family, then disappeared right before the cops arrived at the scene to take away the man that was strapped to the sofa.

He began unstrapping his knives and was about to change out of his vigilante uniform when his phone rang.

“Hello?” He asked as he brought the phone up to his ear.

“Diego, I think you should come to the station.”

“Eudora? Why, finally decided to do things my way?”

“It’s your brother, he’s been arrested.”

“Klaus,” was all Diego gave as a response.

“Diego, I think he needs your help. Besides you said you hadn’t seen any of your siblings in years. Won’t it be nice to reunite, even if it might not be under the greatest circumstances?”

“Yeah, whatever. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” With that he hung up and began strapping his knives back on.

\----

Diego arrived at the police station to find Patch waiting for him. Other than her the precinct was pretty much empty, only a few other cops were working this late.

“Where is he?” Diego asked, getting straight to the point.

“Hello to you too. Don’t you want to know why he’s been arrested?” Patch asked him.

“I’m sure I can guess,” Diego rolled his eyes. “How long ago was he arrested?”

“Just over an hour.”

“Oh great, he’s probably still high then.”

Eudora gave him a small, sad smile. “Diego, come on, just go talk to him. I really think he could use your help.”

“You don’t know my family Eudora, I’m not even sure I do anymore. But Klaus, I don’t know if anyone can help him anymore.” Before she could answer, Diego was walking away to find his brother.

Diego found the cell his brother was locked in. There were two other men in there with him, but they were asleep.

“Diego? Is that you? Wow, you look well. I see you’re still doing the whole vigilante thing, how’s that working out for you? You’re friends with that cop lady, right? She seems nice, talked to me for a while, didn’t even look at me like I should be in an insane asylum,” Klaus rambled, not stopping to let Diego get a word in. “She seemed surprised when I told her my name though, then she asked if I knew you so I said ‘Of course, Diego’s my brother! Well, adoptive brother y’know’ then I told her about the time-”

“Klaus, what are you doing in here?” Diego cut him off, deciding he really didn’t want to know about whatever ridiculous story Klaus had told Patch.

“What do you think, dear brother?” Klaus asked, then smiled.

“You’re high,” Diego sighed.

“Observant as ever. Glad the old man’s training stuck, really, you’re observation skills are astounding!”

“And you still don’t know when to shut up. When do you get out?”

“Tomorrow afternoon, then I’m being sent to rehab.”

“Good, maybe it’ll actually work this time.”

Klaus huffed out a laugh. “Maybe. Why are you here anyways?”

“Patch called me, seemed to think if I talked to you it’d magically cure you.”

“Alas, that seems to not be the case. It’s nice talking to you though, what’s it been? At least three years, I think, since we last saw each other?”

“Yeah, something like that. I should get going though, It’s late and I still need to do some work.”

“Right, well, it was nice chatting with you. See you in another few years then?” Diego thought he heard a slightly disappointed tone in Klaus’ voice, but he ignored it.

“Yeah, hopefully you’ll be clean by then,” he didn’t hide the doubt colouring his voice. Then he walked away. He walked past Patch on his way out, not answering her inquiry of how it went.

\----

Diego woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He reached out and grabbed it, bringing it to his ear and murmuring a bleary hello.

“Diego, you need to come back to the station. Klaus… I’m so sorry Diego, but he must’ve taken more drugs than we thought and… He’s dead Diego. He still needs an official autopsy but we’re assuming he OD’d. I’m so sorry.”

Diego was fully awake and out the door by the time Patch finished talking.

“I’m on my way.”

While he drove to the station he tried to reassure himself. Klaus was probably fine, they probably just didn’t find a pulse and assumed he was dead, but he’s fine. He’ll get there and Klaus’ll probably laugh off everyone's concern, make fun of him for being so worried. But he had to check anyway. He had to make sure.

When he finally got to the station after what felt like the longest drive of his life, even though in reality it had been less than fifteen minutes, he rushed in the doors to see multiple officers and a few paramedics.

Patch ran over to him. “Diego! I- I don’t know what happened. The guys in the cell with Klaus started yelling, saying he was dead, so of course I went in to check, and I couldn’t tell if he was breathing, then I didn’t find a pulse so of course I called the paramedics and some other officers came to help but then, he just, woke up. As if nothing was wrong!”

Diego smiled. Of course Klaus was okay, he knew he would be. “Like I said earlier, Eudora, you don’t know my family.” The he walked back outside and drove home. It had been a long night and he needed some sleep.


	11. Ben

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben watches Klaus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
So I got this chapter finished sooner than I though I would, although it's because I was procrastinating in doing other things... Anyway, it's here!
> 
> Also somehow this has over 200 kudos now? What? I would like to thank you all so much for reading, leaving kudos, and commenting! You're all so amazing, thank you so much! You have no idea how happy you all make me!
> 
> Sorry for rambling and being sentimental *scoff* but I'm honestly amazed and so happy!  
I hope you all enjoy!

It had been many years since Ben’s death. He had learned to accept the fact that he was dead and could no longer be a part of the living world. Other than through his brother, Klaus, of course. He was the way Ben could interact with the real world, even if it wasn't remotely the same as being alive.

Before Ben had died though, he didn’t know how bad things were for Klaus, how much his powers tortured him. Now Ben at least understood why he did drugs, to get a break from his overwhelming powers. He still wished Klaus would stop though. He worried about him constantly and was afraid that one of these days Klaus was going to run himself into the ground to join the spirits that haunted him.

Sometimes it was worse, and Ben would worry more than usual. This was one of those nights. The ghosts had been more insistent and there were a lot more than usual, which meant Klaus had to take more drugs than usual to keep them at bay. Ben had tried to tell him not to take so many, that he would stay with Klaus and help him drown them out in a healthy way that wouldn’t get him killed. Of course, Klaus didn’t listen to him. He very rarely listened to anyone. Instead he had taken nearly double the amount of pills he normally would. Now he was lying on a mattress on the dirty floor of an abandoned building filled with drug addicts who had no place to go, nowhere to call home.

It had been a few hours since Klaus had fallen asleep and Ben had watched over him the whole time, but he couldn’t help the cold pool of fear filling deep in his stomach. Klaus wasn’t moving, hadn’t been for the past few minutes. Ben tried to feel for air coming out of his nose, but of course it didn’t work. Ben was dead, he couldn’t interact with the living world. Instead he sat on the filthy floor and continued to watch over his brother who he wasn’t sure was still a part of the living world himself.

He wondered what would happen if Klaus did die. Would Ben still be there, or would he move on to wherever most people go when they die? Would he become like the ghosts that haunt his brother, screaming and crying for help?

He looked once more at Klaus.

“Come on,” he whispered. “Wake up. Or at least move, or something.”

He watched as nothing happened. As his brother remained pale and motionless.

“Klaus, don’t waste your life like this,” now Ben was mad. Klaus had the thing that Ben had lost, that he longed to regain. And he chose to waste is, to throw it away.

“Klaus, you useless junkie, get up!”

Ben waited some more, but still Klaus remained unmoving. Ben sighed and turned away, not being able to bear looking at his brother. He stayed like that until morning, until he heard the noises of people around him, beginning to get up to go about their days. Some gathering the remains of whatever drugs they had last night, others walking out of the room to get away from this house and find a new place.

Ben heard a rustling directly behind himself and turned to see the pale form of his brother sitting up.

Klaus rubbed his eyes and spoke in a bleary voice. “Benny, good to see ya. That was one hell of a trip.” Then he got up, gathered his belongings, and headed out the door, not waiting for Ben who reluctantly followed behind him.


	12. Introspection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus has time to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, hello!
> 
> It's been a while, and I'm very sorry for that, but I finally have a new chapter!  
I'm not sure I quite like how this turned out, but hopefully It's okay enough. I've gone over it too many times already and I'm out of ideas to fix it. But I hope you all enjoy! I'll try to post another chapter soon, I already have a few ideas. (Of course, always feel free to leave suggestions in the comments!)

Klaus had just gotten out of rehab. Again.

Ben was nowhere to be found, they had had a bit of a… _disagreement_. Namely about Klaus going to find his drug dealer as soon as he left the rehab center.

He had no money for a cab, and it was a bit of a walk. Plus Klaus was irritatingly sober. This meant he had the time and ability to think, to actually think.

Klaus thought he was probably weird.

Scratch that.

Klaus knew he was weird. Definitely weird, to put it nicely.

Normal people didn’t leave rehab, argue with their dead brother, then go to find their drug dealer all within ten minutes.

But Klaus knew he wasn’t a normal person. He didn’t fit in with the rest of humanity, and he had given up any hope of being normal long ago.

Yes, he had his siblings, and they certainly didn’t fit in with the rest of humanity either, but sometimes Klaus felt he didn’t even belong with them. They all had useful, tangible powers. They were useful in fights, they could help people; they could save the world. Klaus couldn’t even manage to control his powers, and what use were they in a fight? Listening to the screams of the dead was in no way beneficial to anyone.

Another way in which Klaus was different: his dressing habits. He didn’t see the problem with wearing skirts, dresses, and heels, but according to dad those weren’t for boys. It also became apparent to Klaus when he was barely into his teens that he wasn’t straight. He didn’t figure out until a few years later that he was pansexual, and he didn’t tell his family. No need to disappoint them further.

Eventually he moved out of the house, as did most of his siblings. In fact, Luther was the only one that actually stayed. Klaus wasn’t sure why, maybe being dad’s favourite meant he had less trauma associated with that house. No, more likely he just couldn’t bear to disappoint father. Always number one, does everything their father asks without question. Unlike Klaus, who constantly questioned everything. Probably one of the reasons Reginald was always so annoyed with him. Klaus couldn’t help it though, why would he do something without knowing the reason? He wouldn’t just blindly follow orders. Maybe Luther was happy to do that, but Klaus wasn’t a soldier, and he never did like to do what he was told anyway; he’d much rather follow his own whims.

Maybe this all played a part in him ending up addicted to drugs. Of course the ghosts had been a big reason, and the one that actually made him turn to drugs in the first place, but he knew there was more to it. The ghosts were just the final straw, his snapping point.

He thought of Vanya. It had been a while since he’d seen her last. She used to visit him in rehab sometimes, but not for many years. She had lost faith in him, lost what little hope she had left that maybe this would be the time it stuck, the time he finally got better. All his siblings had eventually lost hope in him, but Vanya had held on the longest.

He sometimes wondered if he was more like Vanya than the rest of his siblings, despite her being ‘normal’. She didn’t have any powers, and Klaus did, but he couldn’t actually do anything with his. He was just as useless as Vanya. Probably more so; at least she could play the violin.

She had also written that book. Klaus hadn’t spoken to Vanya since before the book was published, and after he’d read it he’d had no desire to change that. She had written some harsh things, but he couldn’t say anything wasn’t true. He wondered if her book had done well. Maybe she made lots of money from it. He hoped so. Some of the things she had written hurt, but he couldn’t blame her, and he still wanted her to be happy. To have a good, normal life.

He thought about her pills. Their father had gotten her a prescription when they were really young. She’d been taking them for as long as he could remember. Klaus wondered if, had he gotten a prescription too, would that have saved him from his life now? If he had drugs, not illegal ones, to make the ghosts disappear, what would his life be like?

He could see his dealer. He walked over then handed Klaus a baggie of something. Klaus took it, not bothering to ask what it was. There was something nagging in the back of his mind. Something about pills repressing powers…

Klaus shrugged it off and popped three of whatever was in the baggie into his mouth, then went to find a place to crash for the night.


End file.
